It's no secret that Microsoft is on board with ushering in a fully passwordless computing future -- specifically one that's powered by a newfangled technology known as passkeys. Back in June, the tech giant confirmed its intention to bring so-called plugin passkey provider integration to Windows 11 in a future update, and, as of the recently-released November 2025 security update, the functionality is now live for a growing number of PC users running the latest version of the operating system.
...it's clear that Windows 11 as a platform is gearing up to embrace passkeys now more than ever before.
At the time of launch, 1Password and Bitwarden are the two third-party password managers to integrate with this new Windows 11 passkey manager API, though it's likely that additional providers will follow in the coming months. As ever with Microsoft, the rollout of this feature is being controlled, and so it might take several more weeks for it to hit all PCs, regardless of whether they're running the latest version of Windows 11 or not.
This bolstered plugin passkey provider integration follows the introduction of cloud-based syncing of passkeys within Windows 11 via Microsoft's first-party Edge browser, a feature the company formally announced earlier this month. With both automatic cross-PC passkey syncing and a dedicated API for third-party password managers to tap into, it's clear that Windows 11 as a platform is gearing up to embrace passkeys now more than ever before.
Passkeys are the future
Windows 11 is fortifying what's to come
Under the hood, passkeys are rather complex, making use of advanced cryptographic technologies and being built on the Fast IDentity Online 2 (FIDO2) open standard. The tech deploys both unique private keys and public keys to render data breaches obsolete, while also relying on PIN and biometrics to authenticate account log-ins as opposed to having to use a complex password.
Through the use of passkey technology, Microsoft first ushered in limited password-free sign-in support for Microsoft Accounts back in September 2021 via an opt-in experience, which was later expanded to all accounts in May 2024. Today, passkeys are the default authentication behavior for all newly-created Microsoft Accounts. Meanwhile, the company has also been working behind the scenes to build out broad-level compatibility for passkeys within Windows 11 proper.
Other platforms and account providers have also thrown their weight behind passkeys in recent times, too. At the operating system level, we now have passkey compatibility available across Android, ChromeOS, iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. Outside of Microsoft, a growing list of online account providers are also now supporting passkeys, including Google, Apple, Amazon, Adobe, and more.
For a full up-to-date list of websites and apps that support passkeys, check out the Passkeys.io web resource.
As anyone who has had to juggle with online account credentials knows all too well, traditional passwords are a massive pain to deal with. Personally, I can't wait for the full-blown mainstreamification of passkeys across the entire industry, and I'm happy to see so much of the groundwork being laid in advance of full-scale deployment. Microsoft's third-party password manager integration is yet another small but significant step towards the passwordless future that not only the tech industry wants, but that I want as well.